The Arizona sentinel., 1887-01-22
THE TOBOGGAN.

Instructions Which Will Interest Boys
 Who Wants the old Indian and Cana
 dian Sled.
 Many time when was boy did l climb one or another of the snow covered hills that surrounded my coun- try home, and try to slide down on the ordinary steel-shod sled of the period. Now and then there would be crust that would bear, and then it was royal sport to range about with the whole world for a coasting ground. Gener- ally, however, the crust played us false, and many a flying somersault was the result.
 If we had only known about tobog- gans! Iii most respects think the boys of my time had quite as much fun as youngsters of to-day; but we hadn't toboggans, and I shall never cease to feel that my boyhood was not what it might have been, for the want of them. They had them in Canada, even then, and long before, for they were invented by the Indians of the snowy North. But no Americans went to Canada for fun in the winter until Lord and Lady Dufferin began to make things lively with festivals and the like. Then the beauties of the to- began suddenly became evident, and Young America cheerfully paid third of the cost price in duties, that he might bring a genuine Canadian toboggan back across the border. There will never be really friendly relations be- tween the United States and Canada till the Kanucks have apologized for hav- ing for so many years kept the secret from thousands of American hoys who were longing to slide on field snow, irl- stead of being obliged to use ordinary roads like other folks. Toboggans are so little known even to-day on this side the border that some account of them is in order, with building directions for those who are handy with tools.
 The Indians of the far North were obliged to pass so much of their lives in wnding through deep snOws that they invented snow-shoes and toboggans. The first enabled them to walk on top of the snow, and the second to drag a heavy load behind them when they walked. Like nearly all the bar barrie inventions, the toboggan is the perfection of simplicity and lightness. Something was wanted that would bear a heavy load without sinking into the snow. With infinite patience the In- hcs ,V1 This would sustain the load, but it's fore end plowed into the snow; so it was bent upward and the blowing diff ficrhty was overcome. After the to- began had received few hard knocks it began to split; so he put cleats across. | Then he found that he needed side rails, around which to pass lashings to keep his peltries from falling overheard, and the affair was complete; and straightway he named it tOboggan, and did carry hIs goods and chattels thereon, until the pale-face beheld and traded for it, and transformed it into vehicle for his young men and maidens to disport themselves withal. The h. | dian artifice had neither wire nor nails nor screws; so he used leathern throngs or deer sinews to lash the parts of his handiwork together.
 Of course, as soon as sawed boards came upon the market they took the | place of the handmade product, being much lighter and better every way than any thing the Indian could work out with his knife and hatchet; but he still maintains that leather thongs are preferable to the screws and nail of civilization, which are apt to pull out under the tremendous shocks and strains of rough usage. Moreover, Ii one drops a screw in the snow when making repairs it is generally lost for ever, while bit of leather thong will remain in sight wherever it chances to fall. Besides, leather can be carried in a pouch or pocket without wearing holes in the garment, and without mak- inc uncomfortable dents in the person of the tobogganer when he chances to | sit or lie down on his tool chest.
 To make toboggan large enough to carry two, Ouc IlllSG udNO d DOdlu Ol basswood oak or ash, feet long, 16 inches wide, and 3-16 or l of an inch thick. In many places it is easier to procure narrower boards, and on many accounts they are better than wide ones. They are less likely to split or warp, and the cracks between them keep the toboggan from slipping side wise. If narrow planking is used, it is better to make the toboggan IS inches wide. This will call for three boards, each feet long and 6 inches wide. Quarter-sawed oak is best. Ash is almost as good, and basswool will an swer very well, but must not be too thin. The cleats and side-rails of some tough light wood like ash. The Indians used saplings in the natural shape, about an inch in diameter Civilized ] builders may use inch-square stuf'